


A Brother's Perspective

by glitterfox19



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Brotherly Love, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Misunderstandings, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 14:29:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17510348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitterfox19/pseuds/glitterfox19
Summary: James can't wait to tease Albus relentlessly about the girl he brought home last night.





	A Brother's Perspective

James tried to recall a moment where he was as excited as he was right now. He was certain that he was shaking with poorly contained glee. Both hands were clutching the Invisibility Cloak. His leg was bouncing erratically because he was torn between running laps around the house and sitting still to witness what might be the most hilarious, drama-filled event that would ever occur in the Potter household. And it wasn’t even his doing.

It was Albus’ doing. For Albus was the reason why there was a girl hidden in his room.

James felt like he would burst any minute. Instead of exploding (and making Mum rather cross, as he’d leave a huge mess to clean), he sat on the staircase and glanced up in the direction of Albus’ room periodically. It was a race against time. He wasn’t sure if Albus knows it.

He reviewed the facts. Firstly, there was a pair of baby-blue Converse in the front hallway, next to the rest of the family’s shoes, visible from where he was seated. James has never met a friend of Albus’ who wore shoes like that. They were a bit big, but James had met plenty of girls with large feet. Plus, the shoes were rather girly. Not that there was anything wrong with - oh, boy. Mum would have his head if she could hear his thoughts. Thank Merlin she can’t.

Secondly, the shoes in question were not present when James and Albus came home from work last night. They always Apparated to the Ministry together in the morning, and back home in the evening. Even though they were in vastly different departments and it honestly made more sense for them to leave separately, it was a tradition, and James had a hard time parting with tradition. James’ oddities weren’t the focus of this, though. What was important was that the shoes (and their owner) had not been present when James and Albus got off work at around half past five.

Thirdly, the shoes were present when James had awoken in the middle of the night, ravenously thirsty. Could one be ravenously thirsty? Not important. He knew the location of the shoes because his room (and Albus’ room) were at the top of the stairs, and he had to go down the stairs to get to the kitchen for a cup of water, and he had seen the shoes when he ventured out of his room. When James spotted the shoes, it was a little past midnight. 

Fourthly, James woke up at 3:41 AM from hearing a huge bang from Albus’ room. It sounded like Albus’ bed had been thrown against the wall. James had heard sounds coming from his brother’s bedroom; this was not unusual, as they shared a wall. What was unusual was the nature of the sounds. James was used to hearing miniature explosions from Albus’ potion experiments. The noises sounded much more like what James would heard when he found couples snogging in unused Hogwarts classrooms during prefect rounds.

Fifthly, it was almost time for Sunday brunch. It was nearing nine. Any minute now, Mum and Dad would round up everyone and force them into eating breakfast at the kitchen table like civilised people. It was not a popular event when he and his siblings were sleep-starved teenagers home from Hogwarts on break. Now, James enjoyed it, though he’d be loath to admit it. He especially loved it right now. If Albus didn’t want Mum and Dad to meet his one-night stand, he’d have to move fast. 

James checked his watch. Ten minutes to nine. Damn, Albus was cutting it close. If he was going to sneak out of the house with this chick, he was going to have to do it fast so no one else would notice. Operative phrase: no one _else_.

After his rude awakening last night, James had ensured that the window in Albus’ room was magically sealed shut. Albus would have to walk down the front stairs - therefore, past James - with whomever he had taken to bed. 

It was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Sure, he got to tease Albus at work and at home all the time. But James had never gotten to tease Albus over his romantic pursuits. Albus was a remarkably reserved person, and his relationships were no exception. He was rather closed off when it came to that. He even only had one close friend - the Malfoy kid with the complicated name. Scorpius. 

(James knew Scorpius’ name, he just liked to pretend that he didn’t because it made Albus grumpy. He also knew Scorpius’ occupation, favorite food, favorite school subject, and five-year plan. It was hard not to - Scorpius was one of the few things Albus blathered on about unabashedly.)

There was a creak. Al’s door was inching open. James’ head swiveled around. He grinned like a feral animal and threw the cloak over his head. He wanted Albus to think that he had gotten away with his grand little scheme.

A floorboard made a funny squeaking sound. Albus cursed quietly. James heard two sets of footsteps tiptoeing to the top of the stairs.

“You have to be quiet,” Albus hissed between his teeth, but James could hear the fondness leaking from his voice. James resisted the urge to shiver with mock disgust. Albus must care about whoever he was unceremoniously kicking out of the house. Maybe it was a serious girlfriend. 

James cranes his neck to get a glimpse. It was an awkward angle, though, so it was hard to get a good look. His first thought: this girl is crazy tall. Taller than Albus. He thought about whipping off the cloak then and there to make a snide comment about how short Albus was, but then he stopped and reassessed. The girl was blond, too, and her hair was cut quite short. Her robes obscured much of her face. James had started to rise so he could get a better glimpse of the girl when the figure spoke.

“Al, you’re the one stomping around like a hippogriff.” That was, without a doubt, the voice of Scorpius Malfoy. James couldn’t resist anymore. He cast a Silencing Spell over the staircase (as much as he loved to poke fun of his brother, he didn’t want Albus to get in trouble with his parents) and whipped off the cloak.

Scorpius and Albus screamed in tandem. Scorpius took a careful step backwards, whereas Al tumbled forwards. He missed the first step and practically threw himself into James’ arms. James swayed for a moment, caught off-guard by the sudden weight in his arms, but then held on firmly. He patted Albus on the back. “All right, little bro?”

Albus was apparently a little winded. Scorpius cleared his throat. His cheeks were bright red and he was staring at his toes. “James, I’m so sorry. This isn’t what it looks like.” His voice was a flat mumble. It was clear that he had been rehearsing those words.

Albus extracted himself from James’ arms and climbed back up the steps. James’ mind was churning, trying to put the pieces together. He was fairly sure what the two of them had done last night, but he wanted Albus to confirm before he said anything. “You two are daft. Why didn’t you tell me, Albus? You can trust me with anything.”

Albus winced. From his vantage point, he looked down at James. “I’m sorry. But it wasn’t exactly your information to know, and we wanted to keep it-”

“Oh, hush it, you two. You’re not making a lick of sense.” James flapped his hand dismissively and allowed his grin to grow wider. Conspiratorially, he leaned in close and stage-whispered, “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me that you’re pulling girls together!”

Scorpius gaped at James like he had turned into a foreign, rabid animal. He then blinked and coughed daintily into the crook of his elbow. James stifled a snigger; Scorpius’ obscenely perfect manners always made him chuckle. “I’m sorry, James, but I’m not following.” Albus looked back and forth from Scorpius to James rapidly. James wished he wouldn’t; the motion was making him dizzy.

“It’s a sweet show of teamwork. And proof that Ally here doesn’t know how to get a date by himself. He needs your good looks, Scorpius, to land himself a date. It’s smart of you to sleep over to deter suspicion. I wish I had thought of that.”

“Good looks. Scorpius’ good looks. You wish you had thought of that,” Albus repeated in a monotone. He looked like James had kicked him in the mouth. Or like Aunt Hermione had showed up on their doorstep to announce that magic wasn’t real and she needed to collect their wands. His eyes were wide. He shook his head in what seemed to be disbelief at having his plans be discovered. “You think I brought a girl home last night and I used Scorpius as a cover-up.”

“Yes, Mr. Stating-the-Obvious.” Scorpius made a funny sound. It was like a cross between a cough, a laugh, and a cry of pain. He covered his mouth with a hand, and used the other to tug on Albus’ elbow. “It’s a fantastic plan. Very clever. Not so clever that she forgot her shoes, though, mate.”

“What?”

“Close your mouth, Albus. You’re attracting flies. Look, you numpty.” James pointed at the conspicuous shoes. Scorpius managed to flush an even darker shade of red and mumbled something incoherent. The blond boy gently pushed past James and picked up the shoes.

“I didn’t hear you the first time, kid.” It was fun to address Albus and Scorpius as ‘kid,’ mostly because Scorpius tolerated it and Albus always got in a tiff about it. James glanced back to gauge Albus’ reaction; he was frozen at the top of the stairs. He hadn’t even crossed his arms as a display of indignation. James frowned. That was strange. 

“They’re, these shoes, mine, they’re mine,” Scorpius said, eyes trained on the ceiling. James rolled his eyes.

“Forget what I said. You two would be horrendous at cover-up. Scorpius here is terrible at lying. Obviously they aren’t his shoes. Why would he be into Muggle fashion? And Scorp, you’ve gotten yourself into a conundrum. Either you have to admit those shoes won’t fit, or you have to wear ill-fitting shoes out of the house. You two really need some practice with planning schemes. You’re lucky Mum and Dad didn’t catch you.” Scorpius, apparently a stubborn bastard, was cramming his feet into the sneakers. When he stood up, James winced sympathetically.

“Okay, you’ve proven your point. I have no idea how you managed to get your feet in there, but well done, mate.” On second thought, the shoes seemed to fit Scorpius quite nicely. Maybe they’d planned for this. How, James had no idea. “It doesn’t change the fact that you’re bad at lying, though. And Al.” Al inhaled sharply. “Don’t forget; you’re still on the hook. I heard you hooking up with some bird last night. You have to tell me about it. What was she like?”

Al was the same hue of a tomato. Scorpius was no better. “You heard?” his younger brother said, looking very much like he wanted to sink into the floorboards and never be seen again. James relished in Al’s embarrassment. It was so rare that he got the chance to tease him so relentlessly. He’d leave the two alone in a moment, though. He had a few more quips in his arsenal that he wanted to use up before Scorpius left, but he wasn’t about to torture the two of them. 

James nodded. “Yeah, yeah. It was gross. Put up a Silencing Charm next time, would you? Save your big bro the trouble.”

“And… and…” 

“Boys! Lily! Brunch is ready!” Dad boomed. “I’m coming upstairs in two minutes! You better be up and at ‘em!” There was a groan from an upstairs bedroom. Lily was awake. They only had thirty seconds, max, before Dad would run up the stairs to coax their younger sister out of bed.

James clapped Al and Scorpius on the back. “Well, even if you guys are acting weird about it, I’m proud of you for getting your feet wet with the dating game. It takes guts. I guess you got some Gryffindor in you after all, Albus. You’ll keep me posted on your forays, yeah?” He nudged Scorpius in the ribs with an elbow and winked. Scorpius made a choked sound in the back of his throat. “Look, I’ll be honest. You both are weird. I have no idea how you managed to get anyone to come home with you. I also have no idea how she managed to leave without her shoes. But hey - it happened, right?”

“Yeah, it happened,” Albus said with a dazed look. He pulled his best mate into a hug. “I’ll see you, Scorpius.” Scorpius’ head rested on Albus’ shoulder, and Albus squeezed the other boy tightly around the middle. Privately, James envied their honest, open affection. He’d never had a best mate the same way Albus did. Albus was very lucky. 

When the door slammed shut, Albus leaned against it. He took a deep breath before he started to laugh hysterically. James’ gaze flicked over to him, mildly concerned. Albus was properly wheezing. He was struggling to stay upright. He offered his brother an arm; Albus accepted it readily. “Did you take a messed up Hangover Potion? Or drugs? Al, you’ve gotta tell me if you’re on drugs.”

Albus made a snorting sound instead of responding. It was a little worrying that Albus avoided the question, but maybe it was because the idea of him being on drugs was so laughable that he couldn’t respond. James hoped that that was the reason. 

“What’s so funny?” James asked. With a heavy sigh, he half-dragged, half-accompanied his brother to the kitchen. The smell of freshly-cooked breakfast made his mouth water. “You know, I’ve always been jealous of your friendship with Scorpius. I wish I had a best mate like that. The two of you are so close. It must be nice.” 

If anything, Albus laughed even harder.


End file.
